China Adds MP Materials and USA Rare Earth to Export Control List

China’s Ministry of Commerce added MP Materials and USA Rare Earth to its export control list on June 22, 2026. The designation prohibits the listed companies from obtaining items that can be used for both commercial and military purposes. The order also bans organizations and individuals worldwide from transferring or providing dual-use items originating in China to the companies.

The ministry placed eight additional U.S. companies, including drone makers and robotics and aerospace firms, on the same list. It stated the action was taken to safeguard national security and interests and came in response to the Pentagon’s decision this month to add some of China’s largest companies to a roster of firms accused of supporting the Chinese military.

MP Materials operates the only major rare earths mine in the United States. It received a $400 million equity investment from the U.S. Department of Defense in 2025. USA Rare Earth confirmed $1.6 billion in funding from the U.S.

Department of Commerce earlier this month and agreed to acquire Brazil’s Serra Verde Group. Shares of MP Materials rose as much as 3.8 percent in New York trading on June 22. Both companies state they have largely cut off supplies of equipment and materials from China.

The decision ends a months-long lull in China’s use of such restrictions against U.S. companies since the October 2025 summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. It follows a trade standoff in 2025 during which Beijing restricted rare earth exports and comes days after the Group of Seven reached an agreement to cap imports of rare earths and permanent magnets from any single country outside the bloc and its partners to below 60 percent by 2030.

China accounts for around 60 percent of global rare earth supply.